Producer Sajid Nadiadwala, director Siddharth Anand and music composers Vishal Shekhar asked Ranbir Kapoor to lend his voice for a song in Anjaana Anjaani. Not only did Ranbir sing, but he also finished recording it in 45 minutes.

The recording took place at Vishal Shekhar’s studio in Bandra at 1am on Wednesday. Ranbir was on his way home before 2am. “He shocked both, Vishal and Shekhar. His singing was so smooth and comfortable. This facet of Ranbir was completely unknown and untapped,” says an industry source.

The scene which required Ranbir to sing isn’t a random input. Ranbir breaks into the song with a band playing behind him. The song is shown for a little over one-and-half minute.

Ranbir’s leading lady, Priyanka Chopra, was also present in the studio at around 10pm. Priyanka will also sing a solo for the same film, if everything goes well.” She heard the tune last night and brainstormed with Siddharth and Vishal Shekhar about her comfort level with the pitch of the song. She is yet to muster up the courage to sing. As things stand today, she should be singing the song in the next couple of days,” added the source.

It was the director of the film who wanted Ranbir to sing that particular song. Siddharth said, “Ranbir improvised a lot and did a brilliant job. It was my idea to make him sing. He knew about it from the time he read the script. But the scene where he sings remains to be shot. It will be canned in the next schedule in the US.”

Vishal thinks that Ranbir’s voice was necessary for credibility. He said, “Though it’s a song, it’s also a scene. We had to get Ranbir to do it for authenticity and he totally rocked!”

Shahid Kapoor, who reveals his chiselled body in his next film, has advice for fitness enthusiasts

MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; November 29, 2009)

If 2007 was Shah Rukh Khan’s year to show off his newly-acquired six-pack in Om Shanti Om and 2008 Aamir Khan’s to reveal what an eight-pack looks like in Ghajini, then 2010 is going to be Shahid Kapoor’s year for possessing Bollywood’s most finel-chiselled body in recent times. Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan, of course, are the all-time Gods of The Body… but nudging them for a place on the pedestal is Shahid whose amazing physique is in ripping display in a song in UTV Motion Pictures’ Chance Pe Dance that releases on January 15, 2010.

Shahid, who is proud of his body, says, “I won’t recommend that guys try to maintain a six-pack or a eight-pack all through the year… because it is tough, believe me.’’ However, building the eight-pack was a challenge he loved. “I’m inherently drawn to fitness. For me working out is a lifestyle. When Vishal Bharadwaj suggested that I get a tough look for Kaminey and Ken Ghosh said I should try and get eight-pack abs for a song in Chance Pe Dance, I had a goal to work towards. Of course, Kaminey is different from Chance Pe Dance so I have a different body-type is both films.’’

What is amazing is how the disciplined actor, who is a vegetarian, took on the extraordinary task of building his dream body.

For a year, Shahid altered his lifestyle completely. First he went completely low on sugar and gradually introduced himself to slowacting carbohydrates. Oats and brown rice became a regular at his dining table. And he ate his six meals a day at intervals of two-and a-half hours, religiously. “I also worked out extensively, despite gruelling shooting schedules, even it meant hitting the gym at 2 am,’’ reveals the actor of his fitness fundas. His high-intensity workout was a combination of parkour and weights, plus cardio-circuit training.

The actor, who works on changing his physicality for almost every film that he undertakes, has a word of advice to wannabe bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts: “Maintaining a sixpack is tough. Instead, follow a regular fitness regime and make sure you stay in shape, rather than aim for a six-pack. The sacrifices required to make a body like the one I have in Chance Pe Dance are immense. I would rather eat healthy and stay fit than try to flaunt a dream body all the time.’’